Same same, but different

Today's headline is somewhat the motto of our entire Vietnam trip. Everything is somehow the same and yet different. Every city we have traveled to so far has the same road conditions and similar attractions, but everything is different. The cities feel different, the people are sometimes friendly and sometimes not so friendly, and the climate is constantly changing. It's really interesting and hard to describe. But now let's talk about yesterday and the day before yesterday.

On 02.01.18 at 1:00 p.m., we took the bus to Dalat. It was a bumpy ride through the mountains. The view was amazing, but the road conditions were comparable to Uganda and the space given was comparable to a clown bus :D The bus really struggled on the steep roads and we struggled with the roads after 4 hours. Our bus driver was crazy too. He actually started to overtake a truck in the middle of a hairpin curve. We were really scared. The road passed construction sites and quarries, and there were hundreds of meters of depth next to us. Pretty crazy. But despite everything, we arrived in Dalat on time and safely. Dalat is located at an altitude of 1500m, and you can feel it in the weather. It's quite cold. Right after we got off the bus, Mr. Hung approached us. He is an Easy Rider and has been doing it for 24 years. Easy Riders are people who take you on their motorbike and do a tour with you. He immediately handed us many books in which people who had ridden with him before had written. There were excellent reviews in all languages. Most of them in German. He invited us for a coffee to explain everything to us and show us pictures. It was really great. He shows you things that you can't find on your own and knows everything about Vietnamese culture. The catch: the price. $170 per person for a two-day tour. That's too much for us, of course. We thanked him very much and were really sad to leave. We then checked into our hostel, which is very nice. We have a room for 10 people all to ourselves. It's super clean and the staff are very nice. In the evening, we went to the Night Market in Dalat. We actually wanted to meet up with Rene and the people he had already met there, but we couldn't figure it out on WhatsApp because he didn't respond. So we really took the first step into the market, looked left, looked right, and who was walking casually and chatting there? The whole group and Rene :D It's unbelievable how coincidences or twists of fate come together so that our paths cross at this exact moment, at this exact place. So we strolled together with 2 Australians and a Frenchman through the market and ate a crepe at a street vendor. Then I had a Green Bean Milk with sugar. That was very interesting and delicious. In the evening, we fell into bed relieved.

The next morning, on 02.02.18, we started the day with breakfast. We're getting tired of eggs. Every morning there are eggs... We then arranged to meet Rene at the bus station. We wanted to go hiking on the Lang Biang Trail. But the bus would only come in 1.30 hours, so we grabbed another motorbike and set off. On the way, we passed a school and the children had to cross the road to get to the other building. The older children quickly blocked off the road with ropes until everyone was safely across, and then we could continue driving. It was cute :) Tim has no luck with his mopeds. Just before we arrived, his moped went crazy and he couldn't accelerate anymore. We stopped and tried all the tricks we knew. Nothing worked. Then a Vietnamese man came and helped us. He found out that the fuel tap was loose. They had simply strapped it with a cable tie, but sometimes it came loose on bumpy roads and no fuel could flow into the engine. Problem solved and we continued, or so we thought :D We arrived at the trek and there are three options for hiking it. Option 1: You pay for a Jeep and get driven to a radar station. This option was out of the question, of course. Option 2: You pay and walk along the road to a certain point and then climb the mountain. Or Option 3: You take the secret shortcut across the field, pay nothing, and have the most beautiful surroundings. That's what we did, of course :D The only problem is that there is no map or signage, you have to follow the tracks:D First, we spent 1.30 hours in a big pine forest. The slope was 30-40 percent. It was sometimes really horrible because you walked on the pines like on sand and constantly slipped. When we reached the top, we were really exhausted. I didn't think I could go any further. Then the real fun began. From the road, it was another 2.2 km where you climbed 600 meters in altitude, and the last 360 meters were steps that were 30-50 cm high. Before that, we went through the Vietnamese jungle. It was hot and there was no breeze. I drank 2 liters and didn't have to go to the toilet once, that's how much I sweated :D The guys went ahead and I followed behind. When we reached the steps, I really couldn't go any further. But there was no other option, turning back meant going back the same way. No, my ambition was already awakened :D So I used my last strength to climb the steps, and when we reached the top, we just dropped down onto the grass. The view was magnificent and we let the sun shine on our bellies for half an hour :) You could see all of Dalat, the mountains, and much more. We are really proud of ourselves and today we have pretty sore muscles. It was the most exhausting thing I have ever done. But it was worth it! It took us a total of 4 hours to get up and 1.30 hours down. The way down was totally fine, and in the pine forest, it was actually really fun because sometimes you slipped and just slid down the mountain :)) It was an experience. When we reached the bottom, we got back on the mopeds. We drove for 100m and Tim's moped couldn't accelerate again. We stopped right in front of a school and tried everything again. A Vietnamese father came and helped us. After nothing worked, he grabbed a screwdriver and started working on it. He took apart half of the moped. It worked again. Yippee! After another 100 meters, the fun started all over again. We were getting angry. The father drove past us again in his car with his kids and immediately stopped. He really saved our lives. We then realized that Tim must not stop accelerating :D So Tim's command: Tessa, you ride with Rene, I'll take the backpacks, and we'll meet in Dalat :D He then drove off like Speedy Gonzalez and didn't let go of the accelerator. Wow, things are happening here :D

We actually all arrived and ate a delicious curry from a street vendor and then took a taxi back to the hostel. We were dead :D It's just annoying that we had booked a tour for the evening :D So we arrived at the hostel and immediately jumped into the next car. We went to the Co Ho's. They are an ethnic minority in Vietnam. There are 10,000 people distributed throughout Vietnam, and 2,000 of them live in Dalat. They have their own district and look a bit different. More African and darker. Six boys and six girls danced around the fire. They were their traditional dances, and we drank rice wine and got a piece of grilled meat. It was quite interesting but very touristy, which we should have known. After we returned to the hostel, we fell into bed, and now we're just relaxing a bit before we head out into the city :)